Guide

Trip Info

The wild Kaçkar Mountains offer some of the best hiking in Turkey, with magnificent scenery, challenging climbs and yayla communities.

The glaciated Kaçkar Mountains are the highest (3,932 m/12,190 ft) and most spectacular of the various massifs in Turkey’s eastern Black Sea region.

Its non-porous granite has resulted in hundreds of midnight-blue lakes and burbling streams. Wildflower displays, especially above the 1,800 metre (5,580 ft) contour, are second to none. Best of all is the opportunity to sample life at the various yaylas (pastoral communities), inhabited to varying degrees from late June to early September.

The most popular trekking season is summer, but these are the mistiest and most crowded months. May and June have the most spectacular floral displays (and long days), but most passes are still snowed in (requiring ice axe and crampons), and most yaylas are yet to be inhabited at this time of the year. September and early October are also fine, with the least mist, though many yaylas will be empty.